One Dark Window (The Shepherd King, #1)

by Rachel Gillig

When his ash-brown eyes met mine, he smiled so wide I could see every tooth. “Shit,” I muttered.

Lol

But my appetite was gone. I stared at the dish and did not move to touch it, the wine beginning to swirl unpleasantly in my stomach. “I agree,” Emory Yew said, pushing his bowl away and taking another deep swill from his goblet. “Why waste the fine space of the stomach on soup?”

LMAOOOO

“No. I just need—I just need some air.” Emory’s chair scraped against the stone floor. When the King’s nephew offered his arm, I pulled back. “There is no need.”

LMAOOO

Still, even as rest took me, I could not help but wonder just how Ravyn Yew had been warned of Emory’s ill manners—had come to corral his brother—despite being nowhere near the great hall that evening.

It’s him, I gasped. I assaulted the bloody Captain of the Destriers. The Nightmare’s claws scraped through the darkness, the hair along his spine raising. Let me out, he hissed.

lolll

Filick returned his gaze to me. “What do you mean, ‘shows you’?” Not very bright, this Physician.

Lol

A coy smile danced along the edges of Elm’s lips. “Spindle, is it?” he said. “Not Jayne Yarrow?”

Oh shit

austerity.

“Brother,” High Prince Hauth Rowan said in greeting, his gaze shifting from Elm to me. “Who is this lovely creature?”

Excuse me

Hauth reached forward, taking my hand and kissing it. “Better late than never.”

Oh brother

I found my aunt lingering at a food tray.

Real

“Though there are a few too many Destriers here for my liking.” Ravyn cocked a brow. “Do you have something against Destriers, Miss Spindle?”

Loll

I inhaled abruptly, my lips parting against the skin of his finger. Ravyn lowered his gaze to my mouth. His finger slipped off my lips, his eyes meeting mine for a fleeting glance before he looked back at the door. And though it was too dark to be certain, I thought I saw a flush slide up his neck.

i love this

“I’m right here,” Ravyn said, making me jump. I reached out, expecting nothing. But my fingers collided with the silk of his tunic, pressing into Ravyn’s taut stomach muscles. I retracted my hand immediately. “Right. Erm, sorry.”

Their so cute

The same calloused thumb that had slid over my knuckles in Ravyn’s chamber caught the tear on my cheek—dragged it away. It was gone in a moment. His voice drifted past my ear. “Come.”

Love him

“You did well,” he said, glancing down at me. “With your stepmother.”

Love him down

Pressing a bloody ear to the door, I should think.

Lol

I felt it again, Ravyn Yew’s hesitance—his discomfort when the King noted us together. Was it the lie that bothered him, pretending to court me? Or was it me he could not stand?

Lmaooo i cant with him

“About to dance, actually,” Ravyn said, cutting her off. “A pleasure to see you both,” he said with no pleasure at all, pulling me away from my half sisters and deeper into the crowd.

Love him

Trees, the Nightmare muttered, scraping his claws. Now we must play at tea with Blunder’s bottom-feeders? You said joining these fools would be dangerous. You said nothing of torture.

Lolll

“Because when he speaks—relaying my worst fears over and over in my mind—it’s not a stranger’s voice,” he said quietly. “It’s mine.”

Love a troubled soul

“That’s Wik Ivy and his brother Petyr,” Ravyn said in my ear. “Thistle you know, and of course my sister and cousin.” To my silence, the Captain of the Destriers smiled. “Come now, Miss Spindle. Surely you’ve seen a party of highwaymen before.”

Such a charmer

How you look is—and perhaps always has been—utterly irrelevant.

LMAOOO

I didn’t know where to look. “Well?” I stepped forward, my hands knotted in my sleeves. “Am I better suited for the task?” I didn’t miss the way Ravyn’s eyes jumped up and down my body. “Much better,” he said, a flush inching up his neck into his cheeks.

Hes so cute

Then, as if he was proving something to himself, he reached for me. His hands, broad and firm, met me at the dip of my waist, resting a moment on my hips. They were warm, his hands. And I caught myself wondering what the calluses along his palms would feel like against my bare skin.

OKAY ELSPETH

Ravyn must have understood because a moment later, he took off the mask. “I’m sorry,” he said, stepping to my side, his voice no more than a whisper. “Miss Spindle?”

This man>>>

“There are so few of us, Miss Spindle. You are more special than you know. And it pains me to think I might have hurt you. I’m—sorry.” He paused. “Trees, I’m sorry.” I listened to the wind through the wood, the lull blending with Ravyn Yew’s voice. He seemed different dressed as a highwayman—changed. Gone was the austere, controlled persona he displayed as Captain of the Destriers. Here, in the wood, he was just a man in a black cloak seeking repentance. I extended my hand. “You’re forgiven. On one condition.” The invisible string tugged the corner of his mouth. “What’s that?” When our hands touched, heat moved into my cheeks. “Call me Elspeth,” I said. “We’re about to commit treason together, after all.” The elusive half smile, cautious though it was, overtook Ravyn’s mouth. When he shook my hand, his calloused skin caught along my palm.

I love every minute of this

And careened straight into my father.

Oh shit-

Now what? the Nightmare hissed.

LMAOOO

I dove into my jerkin, my fingers trembling. But my pockets were empty. I’d left my charm neatly folded in my dress back at Castle Yew.

Utterly useless

Tears stung my eyes, and my wrist, hot and swelling, sang in pain. When I heard leaves rustling behind me, I veered right, slashing through a daphne shrub. Weeds caught my legs and I fell hard, unable to brace myself.

Bro she pmo so bad

“If we’re going to be convincing, you should call me Ravyn.” A smile tugged at my lips. “Good night, then, Ravyn.” He responded with a slow, satisfied grin. “I’ll take that as your answer, Elspeth.”

Love them

“Be careful, Elspeth. Don’t let yourself be swayed by a handsome face. There is so much you don’t know about the world. About powerful men. I worry for you. Truly, I do.”

Wtff

“As he should be,” Elm said, picking dirt from beneath his fingernails. “Looks like something took a piece out of him in the wood last night.”

A divaaa

Then Ravyn stomped, full force, on the High Prince’s hand.

Payment for hurting his girl YESS

“What just happened?” The Prince shrugged, his green eyes lingering on Ione’s shape in the distance. “Hauth broke your wrist, Ravyn mangled his hand. Balance.”

love that. Also, i think elm likes ione

Footsteps sounded. I fumbled at my latch, making far too much noise. I’d hardly stepped into my room and shut the door behind me when three sharp knocks rattled against the wood. The Nightmare sighed. You do make it hard for yourself, my dear. “Who is it?” I called, my voice pitching, too high and breathless. “Ravyn.”

Why is she always getting caught LMAOOO

When I pulled the door open, the knot in my stomach constricted, the Captain of the Destriers startlingly handsome in a deep green tunic. He leaned against the doorframe, his calloused fingers drumming a static rhythm on the old wood. He regarded me, tilting his head like an inquisitive bird of prey. “I thought you’d still be at dinner.” “None of us were very hungry. I just got back.” “Yes. I heard you.”

LMAOOO HELP

immeasurable.

Ravyn pulled my hand back to him, only a few beads of red remaining. He pressed two calloused fingers into the cut, stopping the bleed. A strand of hair fell over his brow, his eyes lowered to my palm.

“I can feel your pulse. Your heart is racing,” he said.

“I don’t know why,” I said. His lips curled into the ghost of a smile. “Don’t you?”

The man he is

I kept still, waiting for something I didn’t have the courage to name. With his free hand, Ravyn cupped the side of my face, his thumb lingering perilously close to my mouth.

YESSSS

When he leaned closer, I closed my eyes, his mouth a whisper from mine. His voice caught at the edges. “Is this you pretending, Elspeth?” he said, the tip of his nose grazing mine. “Because if it is…” His breath stirred my eyelashes. “You’re very good at it.” His words moved something in me. The same calling from before—the same ache. I wanted him to run his hand over my mouth again—to feel the texture of his rough, hardened skin. My body was screaming, a mindless, impatient call for touch.

I love evrything about this

Ravyn’s throat hitched, his eyelids lowering. He placed my hand firmly on his chest, across the Yew insignia, just above his heart. His chest thumped—his heartbeat ragged, as if he’d just been running. When I looked up, he was watching me, his eyes softer than before. “Does this feel pretend?” he said, his mouth close now, so close his lips tugged at mine.

TELL HER

To stop pretending. Our lips collided, there, among the salt. Ravyn growled into my mouth and I pressed my entire self into him, wanting—needing—to feel him against my body. His hand slid over my jaw to the nape of my neck, his fingers twisting in my hair, his mouth opening to mine. Our tongues touched, hot and unfamiliar, tentative at first, then greedy.

YESSSSS

I tried not to look at Ravyn, the memory of last night encasing me, the feel of his hand in my hair—his mouth on mine—still a shadow on my skin. I felt his eyes tracing me. When I finally raised my gaze, I caught the tail of a smile roving across his mouth, his eyes lingering on the rose in my hair.

Love it

The High Prince’s voice was smooth—charming once more. “Miss Spindle,” he said, offering me his uninjured hand.

He fancies her

reticent

quotient.”